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Accounts of an impending American-Russian leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump said he intended to confer with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been called off, too.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump told the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I'll see what transpires."

• Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs White House without results

The frequently changing summit is another twist in Trump's efforts to mediate an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to celebrate that truce deal, the president addressed Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get Russia done," he declared.

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Middle East success possible for the negotiation team may be difficult to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the key to unlocking a agreement was the Israeli government's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a history of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his first term, including his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the legality of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him special sway over the Israeli leader.

Add in Trump's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, Trump has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has warned to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the country - only to then back off in the face of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his ability to meet and hammer out agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to move the hostilities any closer to a resolution.

Putin may actually be using Trump's desire for a settlement – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in the US state just as it seemed probable that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader called the US president who then touted the potential summit in Hungary.

The following day, Trump hosted Zelensky at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump maintained that he was not being manipulated by the Russian president.

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he remarked.

But the president of Ukraine subsequently made note of the timeline of developments.

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a short period, the president has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – even territory Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately decided on calling for a truce along present frontlines – something Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate promised that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that commitment, saying that concluding the war is proving harder than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of finding a framework for peace when both parties desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.